I thought I would put together a helpful and quick guide to all the things you need to know prior and during your stay in Barcelona- a favourite city of mine.

Airport to Barcelona city centre

This has got to be one of the most stressful parts of a journey. Upon exiting the airport, follow the crowd and signs to bus stop to the city. I used Aerobus. It’s located downstairs from the arrivals hall. When I was there, the ticket line for the vending machines were huge! You can pre-book tickets and also line up for the bus and pay at the front of the bus (but this is really slow). There are 4 stops towards the city-centre, so check the location of where you need to get off against these stops. For travellers, this is generally the last stop: Plaza Catalunya.

Tip: buy a return ticket when you first purchase as it’s cheaper than buying 2 single tickets.

Public transport around Barcelona

Barcelona has a brilliant metro system and if you’re just visiting the major sites, is the perfect way to get around. The city centre is also quite easy to navigate on-foot so be sure to check the location of your accommodation and what you wish to see during your time there. For visitors, there are 2 tickets that are always recommended again and again. The 10 pass ticket (€9.95) that allows travel for 10 trips on buses (excluding airport buses) or metro or day passes which offer unlimited travel for the duration of its validity (3, 4 or 5 days validity). Another option is the tourist travel pass which offers unlimited public transport use and also tickets to major sites.

Tickets to major sites

By major sites, I mean anything Gaudi related. You will need to pre-book these tickets in advance as the lines are not worth your precious holiday time! Each venue will have its own website so make sure you’re onto this ASAP as Barcelona is a very busy city and sessions can often be booked out.

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I found out about Blablacar through locals that I had met in Europe. This service is alittle like Airbnb- essentially, drivers list their trip on blablacar and you can pay for a seat and be a passenger. The website has a review process where you can rate the driver and their driving skills and they can also rate passengers. Once you’ve locked in a trip, you pay (with card) and then get a code to give your driver after your journey. All of this is done via the site but the only thing you do need to sort out with the driver is a meeting place.

Pros

It is cheap! I found that the trips were about half the price (if not more) than a bus or train tickets. If you’re regularly moving around a country, these travel costs can add up quickly and also leave little room to be flexible if train costs increase closer to travel dates. I thought that blablacar helped to cut travel costs during my holiday.

You get to meet locals. I love meeting new people on trips and what better place than being in the same car with each other. We have chatted about life in our respective countries, our dreams and life in general. One of my drivers is actually in Australia at the moment and hopefully we will get to catch up!

You can see part of the country. What better way to see the views than the front passenger seat of a car! I found that my drivers would point out different things along the way and we also got to talk about road tolls!

You can pick who you want to take the trip with. This is dependent on what towns you’re travelling between as some towns tend to have alot of trips happening and some with not so much. If you have choice, you can pick which age group/gender you want to travel with which I think is a good thing.

Cons

Language barrier. On one of my trips, there was a huge language barrier (I can’t speak spanish) and the driver couldn’t speak english. BUT WE MANAGED. It can be awkward if there is a language barrier but it’s generally ok.

Meeting place. Once a driver agrees to take you, you both have to settle on a meeting place. Usually, the driver has the final say and it can be hard to try and find a place you can easily get to with your luggage without having transport costs blow out. I had very good luck and found someone where I could walk to most of the places but you might not always have this luxury.

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